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• Canadians Create 3D Application for iPhone
• Virtual Worlds, Virtually Anything is Possible
• A VDI and Vizible Collaboration
• A Visit From Mike Katchabaw
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Do you like the idea of 3D TV, but hate the thought of those glasses? Visitors to the Ontario Pavilion at the recent Vancouver Winter Olympics got to play a 3D video game (sans glasses) that promotes Ontario’s top tourist sites. It used a display developed by the Toronto based firm Spatial View. Sheridan College’s Visualization Design Institute figured out how to program the game to take advantage of the new technology.

Sheridan College, a leader in digital media, has created the first ever real-time auto-stereoscopic 3D game that does not require 3D glasses. The game, called “IC3D”, is a showpiece at the Ontario House Pavilion at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games, and will be used to introduce some of Ontario’s most well-known tourist attractions to the world-wide audience in Vancouver.

Developed in collaboration with Toronto-based company Spatial View, the Sheridan IC3D Game is an interactive real-time application where players use BlackBerry® smartphones as game controllers to assemble puzzles featuring some of Ontario’s most popular tourist attractions.

Visitors to the Ontario House Pavilion will play the puzzle game featuring 20 of Ontario’s landmark attractions, displayed as ‘icicons’,* on 46” Spatial View auto-stereoscopic 3D screens. The pieces of each attraction, or ‘icicon’, appear scattered on a frozen 3D landscape. Up to five players work collaboratively to assemble the ‘icicons’, each using a BlackBerry smartphone. Once complete, a multimedia presentation of the attraction is displayed on each player’s device.

“The cutting edge technology of Sheridan’s 3D Game showcases our province’s tourism icons like never before. The world will see in a unique and innovative way that there truly is no place like Ontario to live, visit and invest,” said Michael Chan, Ontario’s Minister of Tourism and Culture.

“The project is a great example of how Sheridan’s expertise in applied research can seamlessly combine multiple disciplines as diverse as art and information technology. Sheridan’s long experience in digital media made collaborating with Spatial View on a 3D gaming and visualization project an ideal partnership,” said Jill Birch, Sheridan’s Vice President of Business Development. “This unique and innovative collaboration not only demonstrates the Province’s commitment to innovation in technology, but we think it has been a model for how technology companies and educational institutions with expertise in applied research can partner to create technological breakthroughs.”

“We are excited to be working on such an innovative project with one of North America’s premier Visual Design educational institutions,” says Beat Raemy, CEO of Spatial View. “The combination of Spatial View’s technology and Sheridan’s creative software development skills has resulted in a truly amazing glasses-free 3D experience.”

The Sheridan 3D Game was created by Sheridan’s Visualization Design Institute (VDI), an applied research unit with established expertise in the field of computer visualization and specializing in deploying game technologies in 3D environments. A team of students from the college’s Applied Computing and Engineering Sciences School worked with VDI staff to take this application from concept to finished product.

Founded in 2004, Spatial View is a leading developer of 3D image processing and display technologies. The company’s vision is to make 3D more accessible, affordable and versatile opening up 3D to a broader market, including mobile and personal computers. Spatial View’s unique technology allows users to view 3D content in high quality on a variety of platforms without the need for 3D glasses.

The Blackberry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research in Motion Limited.

Canadian kids’ broadcaster Family Channel, the Sheridan Visualization Design Institute and Spatial View Inc. have collaborated, through an Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) project, to create a glasses-free 3D mini game for the Apple iPhone.

The result of the collaboration is a proof-of-concept mini game, unveiled today at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Carnival Craze can be played and viewed in natural 3D, without glasses, on an Apple iPhone, equipped with a 3DeeShell from Toronto-based Spatial View.

“Spatial View Inc. is extremely enthusiastic about our participation in the OCE project with the Sheridan Visualization Design Institute and Family Channel,” said Brad Casemore, Spatial View’s Vice President Business Development. “It’s exciting to be able to work with these two great organizations on this project that advances our technology. As a result of this project, Spatial View will be able to identify improvements for the software and visualization tools we provide to 3D game developers and content creators, helping to reduce the costs and time-to-market associated with visually compelling content that can be viewed naturally in 3D.”

“We are excited to extend Family Channel’s engagement with young Canadians to include the development of innovative gaming on this highly interactive platform,” said Barbara Bailie, Director, Interactive, Astral Television Networks. “Gaming remains the most popular activity on our website, Family.ca, so we’re keen to extend our reach into gaming by having our Ontario-based Interactive team work closely with cutting-edge developers to deliver Family’s Never A Dull Moment experience to kids on the move.”

Spatial View provided its 3DeeShell, a protective iPhone case equipped with a special 3D viewing lens, as well as a software development kit (SDK). Spatial View also provided advisory and collaborative support to the project.

The Sheridan Visualization Design Institute designed and developed the game and refined the SDK working collaboratively with Spatial View’s development team. Family Channel provided sponsorship, creative and brand direction based on their team’s expertise in game-play for audiences aged eight to 14.

“This applied research project aligns Sheridan’s research goals with the business objectives of industry partners” said Director, Julia Walden. “By leveraging collaborating companies’ investment of cash and expertise, OCE has the right strategy to ensure that funding is available so that Sheridan’s students can apply sound academic methods to practical industry projects.”

“The project’s success also required three dimensions,” said John MacRitchie, Director of Business Development for OCE’s Centre of Excellence for Communications and Information Technology. “Spatial View, Family.ca and Sheridan Visualization Design Institute each bring unique expertise to the table to build a leading edge, 3D digital media experience. OCE is proud to seed a project that fuses innovative technology, creative content and the skills to integrate them into an exciting, new application.”

About Family Channel
Family Channel is a premium, commercial-free network offering the best in family television entertainment in 5.8 million homes across Canada. With nearly a million unique visitors a month, Family.ca is one of the most popular kids’ sites in Canada. Providing frequently updated, high-quality content, Family.ca is an online destination for kids and families. In addition to its games pages, Family.ca features contests, full-episode streams, video podcasts and program mini-sites.

Family Channel, an Astral Media Television Network; Astral Media is a leading Canadian media company, active in specialty and pay television, radio, outdoor advertising and iMedia. Astral Media’s solid and dynamic presence in the country’s major markets rests on its commitment to offer a unique combination of high-quality, targeted media for all its audiences.

About Sheridan Visualization Design Institute
Sheridan Visualization Design Institute conducts applied research within the Sheridan Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning, and is dedicated to innovation in computer visualization specializing in deploying game technologies to create 3-D, real-time, environments. Situated within the Sheridan high tech animation teaching environment in Ontario, Canada, the research team has a ten-year track record of collaboration with industry and academic partners.

About Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE)
Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) Inc. drives the commercialization of cutting-edge research across key market sectors to build the economy of tomorrow and secure Ontario’s global competitiveness. In doing this, OCE fosters the training and development of the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs and is a key partner with Ontario’s industry, universities, colleges, research hospitals, investors and governments. OCE’s five Centres work in communications and information technology, earth and environmental technologies, energy, materials and manufacturing and photonics. OCE is funded in part by the government of Ontario and is a key partner in delivering Ontario’s Innovation Agenda.

About Spatial View Inc.
Spatial View, Inc. (SVI) is a pioneer in 3D image processing and auto stereoscopic displays. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Spatial View has offices in San Francisco, Hong Kong and Dresden. With the registered consumer brand Wazabee, the international team develops products that transcend the boundaries of 2D imaging, opening new dimensions and interactive solutions in medicine, engineering, advertising, gaming and entertainment. The company’s vision is to make 3D more accessible, affordable, versatile, and inspiring. With the SVI family of software and a variety of high quality glasses-free 3D displays, Spatial View offers a wealth of adaptable solutions enabling the presentation of 3D rich content of all types for specialty as well as the consumer mass market. The first Wazabee products: 3DeeShell, 3DeeFlector and the 19-inch-Gaming Display, will be presented in early 2009.

Websites:
Family.ca (www.family.ca)
Sheridan Visualization Design Institue (www.visualization.ca)
Ontario Centers of Excellence – Centre of Excellence for Communications and Information Technology
(www.oce-ontario.org/Pages/COEInformationTechnology.aspx?COE=IT)
Spatial View Inc. (www.spatialview.com)

Below is a short movie created by Ian Howatson of VDI. This movie was created for Julia Walden Director of VDI for a presentation she did at the 2008 Modsim World Conference in September, the topic of the presentation was the importance of Virtual Worlds in learning and how they can be used as a tool for educators.

The movie was shown as a intro piece to grab the audiences attention to kick off the presentation. So sit back, relax and enjoy the show!!!

-=[ian]=-

VDI and Vizible collaborated on a Material Editor for Vizible’s Project RedTail. Project RedTail provides everything you need to build, publish, and share rich multimedia spaces that are immersive, 3D, and interactive–all without code.

The Material Editor allows people to modify their models through a friendly user interface instead of typing code. From scrolling and rotating textures, to reflective materials, the Material Editor can handle it all.

To try out the Material Editor for yourself, check out Vizible’s Project RedTail Blog, where you can download the Material Editor: RedTail Material Editor

-=[ ian ]=-

Today VDI played host to a visit from Mike Katchabaw. Mike is a professor at London’s University of Western Ontario. He was here to talk about “Story Scripting for Automating Cinematics and Cut-Scenes in Video Games” and the work they’ve done with dynamic music. The idea of automating cut-scenes and music is very appealing to small to medium video game production companies and could save them a lot of money. That’s not to say Mike’s work is limited to video games alone, there’s plenty of opportunities in other industries from TV to book publishing.

If you’d like to learn more, why not attend Future Play where Mike and his colleagues will be presenting.

Albert Lai’s talk this morning at the Ontario Centres of Excellence breakfast was advertised as a vision of the coming Web 3.0 world. And, he did a bit of that.

Then, maybe sensing that there is a lot of hype around versioning the Web, Lai launched into his vision of Web 2.5, describing the nearer-term implications of technological developments …. stuff that entrepreneurs and innovators can get into right now. This is the realm of mobile devices with high definition screens, large memories, wi-fi broadband connectivity and GPS all wrapped up into a small package. Small enough that you can carry more than one device in your pocket, as Lai observed in his visits to the East.

So, who is Albert Lai? Now 28, he founded and sold his first company (MyDesktop) while still in his teens. He has started up, invested in and sold almost a dozen technology companies since. More about him and his philosophy (“Simplicity: The Ultimate Weapon of Mass Disruption”) can be found at Simply Albert

== bobj ==

Today, I attended an Ontario Centres of Excellence event, discussing about the next-generation of internet, Web 3.0. Albert Lai speeched what Web 3.0 might be, and what we have to do for the future. In his definition, Web 3.0 will be the web on the mobile devices.

So, is Web 3.0 another buzzword? Is it really important to put a name tag? For example, I am Web 1.0, and, you are Web 2.0. Even though it is a hot debate topic, I think, the clear definition of Web 3.0 (or Web 2.0) points out the right direction of what we have to move along.

==song==

Related links:
An Article on Albert Lai in Canadian Business
Web 3.0 – OCE, Mind To Market event
What is Web 2.0 – O’Reilly
Not 2.0?
Web 2.0 Validator

Here are some questions we are asking ourselves at VDI.

Is learning easier in 2D than 3D?

Is a compelling narrative as effective as a real time visualization in a real time cave environment?

What are the ethical considerations for developers? Who will deploy our games and how?

One thing is certain. Serious games or visualization design is important and growing.

It is all up for discussion on this blog and at the first annual Serious Games Canada symposium next month in Montreal.

http://www.ucalgary.ca/~jparker/seriousgames/summit/

Here you find our comments, musings, thoughts and themes.

We invite you to post blog entries.

We are interested in your comments and questions on our projects and research.

Thank you,

Ian Howatson Web Developer and the VDI Team